Come Hell or High Water
by Secretly-A-Fangirl
Summary: "Stay with me," he whispers in her ear. She looks up at him, her lips parted slightly as her breathing became heavy. "We would only regret it in the morning," she whispers back. Her voice is barely audible and just seconds later she was kissing him with all the passion that had pent up over the years he was away. Terry/OC
1. Meeting AJ

Terry sighs, relaxing in his seat and watching Lara curiously—the brunette is still tense no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise and this made Terry want to know what she was hiding. He tilts his head to the side, watching her as she shifts in the driver's seat, her plump lips pursing slightly in annoyance. "What," she asks, cutting her gaze towards him for a brief second before she stares at the road again. The last thing either of them needed was to crash and die. He shakes his head with a smile, feigning looking out his window when in all actuality he was still watching her using the reflective glass. Lara Croft is beautiful, the type of woman any straight man would want in his bed. She has an amazing body, flat, firm stomach, huge breasts, and the perfect ass; Terry was itching the tear her clothes off and fuck her until she couldn't walk. "Have you ever heard of Nicole Strong?"

"Yeah, the guards talked about her a lot, why," he asks in amusement. Why the hell would Lara want to know about a porn star? Nicole Strong went viral overnight according to the guards back at the prison; she was flexible and willing to try anything once. The type of girl that made a red-blooded man like Terry putty in her hands. She sounded somewhat like Lara. The brunette shrugs with a little smirk. "Don't tell me you're close friends with Strong." That would be a dream come true.

"Have you heard from AJ recently?" The sudden change in conversation made him scowl, the thought of his ex-wife making his excited mood take a nosedive off a cliff. Alexis James, bitch galore and a spy for MI6. The second she realized he'd turned his back she helped to take him down, smiling as he was carted away and sending him divorce papers the next day. He wasn't going to lie, they had amazing sex, but that was about it that he cared to remember about the redhead.

"Not since our divorce was completely finished, then all she did was send me her wedding ring." Lara chuckles at that, parking the truck she was driving outside an enormous country estate. The outside is made up of wood and glass and he had no doubt that someone important lived here. "What are we doin' here?" Lara smiles, getting out and walking up to the enormous front door, pushing it open without preamble and disappearing inside. Terry stares after her for a second before he follows her lead. Inside is all marble and brass, the floors a sparkling white with veins of what looked like gold running through it. Overhead is a small crystal chandelier, lighting up the entryway and throwing rainbows all over the off-white walls. The entryway is small, but the parlor they walk into next is huge and decorated with expensive taste. The fireplace is made up of stones of different shapes and sizes, the floor is wood, and the black furniture sets off the cream colored walls and pale blue curtains.

The room is obviously meant to feel comfortable without trying too hard, across from the couch is a big screen TV and a state of the art surround sound and DVD player, on its left is shelf after shelf of movies, and on its right is the same, the only difference being the shelves are filled with all kind of books. Terry looks at the TV in awe, it's one of the greatest things he's seen since he was set free and he wanted to savor the moment. The song Burn it to the Ground is playing loudly over the speakers, and he locates an iPod touch plugged into the surround sound. He taps his foot along with the beat, not noticing as a woman walks into the room until he smells a familiar body wash—Warm Vanilla Sugar. It elicited an immediate reaction out of him, a mix of nostalgia and anger. When he turns he finds the last person he wanted to see standing in the doorway of the room, wearing only a pair of expensive high heels and a scowl. "What the fuck are you doing here," she demands, resting one hand on her hip. Not much about his ex-wife had changed over the years, she still had a head of fiery red hair and a temper to match—her once pale skin is now a gorgeous tan and she'd lost weight enough to still be curvy and soft. Her breasts weren't as impressive as Lara's, but they were a nice handful.

"Your cover's been made," Lara states, a hand resting on her pistol. AJ lets out a low growl, turning and walking up three stairs that lead to a hallway. "Well, she certainly took seeing you better than I thought she would." Lara and Terry walk a few feet behind AJ, so the redhead wouldn't overhear them. "I had rather hoped she wouldn't try to kill you just yet." Terry scoffs, his eyes watching AJ's hips sway despite the fact that he wanted nothing more than to punch the bitch. He had to give it to her, she looked great.

AJ leads them to an office, the walls of the room completely covered with books, the floor covered with a dark blue carpet, but the darkness of the room is offset by the floor to ceiling windows placed behind a massive oak desk, the curtains tied back to allow natural sunlight to fill the spacious room. AJ sits on the edge of the desk, leaning so that she was braced on her hands, pushing her chest out appealingly—her legs crossed. He swallows hard, fighting all his instincts to flip her over and go at her with everything he had. "MI6 didn't say anything, so why are you here?"

"You are aware of a man by the name of Reiss?"

"Uh-huh, he's that weirdo that gives me two grand for a blowjob," she shrugs, hazel eyes showing just how annoyed she was with Terry being there.

"_Two grand_," Terry asks incredulously," for head?"

"I'm very good at what I do, especially if there's something in it for me." She looks him up and down in disdain before continuing. "You know, like the orgasm I never got from you." That was a low blow and she knew it, but the infuriated look on his face made her smile. Lara smiles at Terry's expression, enjoying the fact that even his ex-wife knew he wasn't as good at sex as he thought he was. "You both can stay here tonight and head out in the morning, you must be tired." AJ sits up straight, stretching with her arms above her head in a way that made Terry hard. And then the conversation in the truck clicked into place. AJ is Nicole Strong, his ex-wife is the woman that the prison guards had become so obsessed with.

"You're," he starts, pointing at AJ and then pausing to look at Lara for confirmation," she's Nicole Strong?" Lara smirks and that was enough to let Terry know that men worldwide had seen AJ's body. Some part deep inside him was angry and jealous, he didn't like sharing what was his. But she's not his anymore, the ring in his pocket proved that well enough. AJ grins, hopping off the desk and pulling a black robe off the chair behind the desk, shrugging it on and covering her bare form. It's a short robe, stopping about mid-thigh, leaving her legs at the mercy of his eyes.

"MI6 thought it would work as a new cover, so they posted a sex tape and altered it slightly to look like a professional porno, changed my name, and sold it to the media for three mill." She shrugs like it was no big deal.

"What tape?"

"Remember our three year anniversary, how we got really high and horny?" She lets that sentence hang in the air, watching his face for a reaction. "Apparently it was a big hit and now I'm rich." Terry didn't like it, he especially didn't like the part about him being in the damn video. "Don't look so shocked, sweetie, MI6 made sure not to show your pretty face—they didn't want to scare anyone." She laughs, walking out of the room again down another hallway. This one had walls made of wood stained dark red and pictures lined the wall. The pictures varied, most of them she'd taken when she was posing as a nature photographer, but a couple of them were of her with different people.

Her heels clicked loudly on the marble floor, but they were mostly drowned out by the music floating after them from the parlor; now it was The Ballad of Mona Lisa, not one of his favorites, but it wasn't terrible. He preferred classic rock to the newer shit—Panic at the Disco couldn't hold a candle to Kansas, but they were tolerable on long car trips when nothing else was on. Slowly the pictures gave way to doors, and AJ stops outside the last door on the right, throwing the double doors open to reveal a bedroom painted in a deep teal, dominated by the four poster bed that set against the wall opposite the doors. The bed had sheets, pillows, and covers of alternating white and pale green that went well with the smallness of the room. The floor is a pale wood, like the kind you might find in a beach house. There is a set of double doors on the left wall that opened up to a small balcony of sorts, and on the right wall is a simple chestnut dresser for clothing. "I'll take this room," Lara states, throwing her bag down on the bed and closing the doors behind Terry and AJ. It seems the only room meant to feel intimidating in the entire house that he's seen is her office.

AJ leads him across the hall to the next room, pausing long enough to unlock the doors before pushing them open. This room had an airy feel to it that went along with the dominant navy colors and the red accents. It's bigger than Lara's, but not by too much. The bed dominated this room as well, but was set up against the left wall, opposite that is his own balcony and dresser, but the thing that caught his eye was directly across from the doors. A mural took up most of that wall, a beach scene that was very familiar to him. It's from their honeymoon to Hawaii, the startling reds and soothing pinks of the sunset they had witnessed that night brought a wave of longing crashing into him. "Did you paint that," he asks, moving forward to run a hand over the detailed waves. Near the painting's water are two silhouettes—silhouettes he knew belonged to him and AJ.

"I got bored one day," she says with a nod, coming to stand beside him," I thought the room could use something personal." He smiles down at her, taking in her faraway expression; she was thinking about that night too. That was one of the best nights of his life, they'd danced until their bottle of champagne was empty, the cool water washing over their bare feet. He'd laid her down on a blanket they'd brought along and he'd made love—actually made love—to her for the first time. She was beautiful that night, her long hair hanging in its natural waves, she was wearing a black two piece and by the time that they were finished that night, the two piece was in ruins and she ended up wearing his shirt on the way back to the hotel.

"Sleep with me tonight." She smiles up at him, biting her lower lip.

"You couldn't afford me." Her tone is light and joking, but beneath that he heard a hint of sadness, loneliness. "You have a big day ahead of you, better get some rest." And then she was gone, leaving him to his thoughts. A few minutes later the music shut off, giving him a pretty good idea of where she was. He sighs, digging some clothes out of his bag and jogging to the parlor. AJ stood in the middle of the room, one hand on her hip and the other rubbing the back of her neck.

"Hey, uh, where can I shower?"

"Follow me." She leads him through the entry way again and up a staircase to the second floor, which is basically one big, open space. White carpet with white walls, and a long, cameo couch opposite a wall made completely of glass. "It's bullet proof," she says, noticing the direction he was looking," I'm not a complete idiot." There was a small table beside the couch, holding a lamp and a book. She walks straight past it for one of the two doors in the room, opening the door on her right and stepping aside so he could enter. The bathroom is done up in earthy colors, mainly light browns and dark reds. The floor is tile, and the counter/sink area has a few bottles scattering its surface—mainly perfumes and lotions with the occasion hand wash. The shower is tucked neatly into the corner, the two outside walls made of glass while the back two are the same brown tile of the floor. A whirl pool bath was set into the floor in the center of the room, a few bottles and washrags on the edges of the white porcelain.

Terry catches AJ's wrist when she tried to walk out, pulling her back to him gently and slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements that would send her running. "Stay with me," he whispers in her ear. She looks up at him, her lips parted slightly as her breathing became heavy.

"We would only regret it in the morning," she whispers back. Her voice is barely audible and just seconds later she was kissing him with all the passion that had pent up over the years he was away. She is stronger than she appeared, pushing him until he was against a wall and beginning to work on his pants. He laughs breathlessly when she moves to nip at his throat, his hands moving to the tie holding her robe closed, making quick work of it. The black silk pools at her feet, leaving her bare before him. At some other time he might have stopped to drink her in, but right now he was a man that was dying of thirst and the one thing that could save him was between those thighs of hers. AJ gasps when he picks her up and sets her down on the counter, her hazel eyes half-lidded and burning with the same fire she'd ignited in him. She needs this as much as he does.

"You're beautiful." She moans, her hands grasping his shoulders as he thrusts into her warm, wet opening. He had to fight not to cum then and there, it had been too long since he'd had a woman, let alone a woman as tight as AJ. She felt like heaven, the way she clenched around him, tempting him to just give in. He lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, latching onto one of her hard peaks and beginning to thrust. The rhythm they set was familiar—a fast tribal beat, there was no room for love and sentiment, only the raw pleasure coursing through their bodies.

"God," she shouts, throwing her head back and convulsing around him. Terry clenches his teeth, tightening his grip on her hips and continuing to drive himself into her until a blinding ecstasy overwhelms him, turning the world golden with AJ's name falling from his lips. The pair stays in that awkward position for a few minutes longer, Terry resting his head on AJ's shoulder while trying to catch his breath.

"We're gonna need a shower," he murmurs with a smirk, picking her up again. AJ laughs, wrapping her legs and arms around him. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be any cleaner after the shower and she couldn't wait.


	2. Recruiting

**There are links in my profile.**

Something was under AJ's head, of that she was certain, though she had no clue what it could be. Whatever it was, it was warm and the steady _thump_-_thump_ sound it made was already lulling her into a half-awake state again. She didn't get much sleep last night and she was so desperately tired that whatever warm thing she was laying on had better just be still and let her sleep a little longer. The thing shifts again, beginning to make noises now. Just her luck, just as she was ready to go to sleep again, her warm thingy decides to wake up. Wait….What? She raises her head, looking at her thingy through half-lidded eyes, some of her red hair hanging in her face. Terry smiles up at her, a smug little smile that she wanted to remove—preferably with a scalpel, but she supposed she'd have to improvise. "Morning, sleeping beauty."

Moving quickly, she adjusts so that she's lying beside Terry on the couch before promptly pushing hard enough on his chest to send him falling to the floor. Now the smug grin was on her face. That made her feel better even if only slightly. She walks into the bathroom, grabbing a bottle of body wash before climbing into the bathtub, making sure that the water filling it would be warm before sinking down and letting the jets work miracles on her sore muscles. She lets out a groan, releasing her thick hair from the chignon and let it float on the water—the dark red standing out against the white of the tub. With her eyes closed, she didn't see Terry walk inside, dressed only in a pair of sweats that hung low on his hips. "You're not allowed in my bathtub," she informs him without even opening her eyes. He wasn't as silent as he thought he was.

"Wasn't planning on it." She can hear the glass door of the shower open and close, then the sound of the shower starting. She wondered if he would be taking a cold shower or not as she began to wash her hair. Judging by the tent in the front of those sweats that poked her earlier, she could almost bet that the water was ice cold. With her hair thoroughly rinsed, she makes quick work of washing her body and shaving her legs. The shower turns off and Terry steps out again, wrapping one of her fluffy, dark red towels around his waist and using a second to dry his upper body. AJ cocks her head to the side, studying him. His dark brown hair is cut close to his head, but no less soft; his body is firm and muscled, he'd obviously worked out in that prison he was incarcerated in; his eyes though, they were what really drew AJ in, they were a curious mix of green, grey, and blue that would change depending on his mood. She loved them even if she didn't love the man they were attached to—as her granny would say, he had bedroom eyes and hot damn were they effective. His Scottish accent was a bonus, the gravelly sound pleasing to her ears. "Enjoying the view, Lexi?"

The nickname had AJ throwing a bar of soap at his head, narrowly missing when he jerked out of the way. "Don't call me that," she snarls, wrapping a towel around her torso and storming out of the bathroom and into her bedroom just next door. Her bedroom was the largest room in the house, painted a lavender color with white molding and carpeting. The walls were covered with pieces of paper and sticky notes filled with drawings she had done when she was bored. There wasn't much furniture, but there were plenty of windows. The large four poster bed set on a dais on the far wall with her walk-in closet just beside it for convenience. There were French doors opposite the bed, they opened out to a small balcony with an iron set of spiraling stairs that went down to the garden. She was proud of this room, it was hers to do with as she pleased. Sitting on the nightstand beside her bed was a photo that she quickly hid in the nightstand drawer. She didn't want to chance Terry finding out she had kept the picture of their wedding day—the photographer had snapped it right as Terry's lips had connected with hers.

With the picture hidden, she walks into the closet, flipping on the overhead light as she went. The closet was divided up neatly, shirts in the first section—she grabs a black tank top from it that had C'est la Vie in white letters on the front—the lingerie and underwear came next and she grabbed a bra and panties, next was dresses, then shorts. The closet ended with a large mirror with shoes on the either side of it. She dresses quickly, the purple and black short-shorts fitting snugly and the black top loose enough to be modest, but not so modest that it wouldn't make Terry watch her. Once dressed she picks out a pair of black combat boots with navy colored ties. She looks in the mirror, carefully applying foundation and concealer before forcing a brush through her tangled hair. To make sure that her hair would stay out of her face, she secures it into a French twist using several bobby pins.

Happy with her appearance, she heads downstairs to the kitchen where the other two had already gathered. Lara sits at the kitchen table, sipping on a cup of coffee while Terry made himself at home on her counter. She glowers at him, making a beeline for the fridge and the caffeine she knew that waited inside. "Why don't you have any food," Terry questions, raising an eyebrow. She opened the refrigerator, finding that she did have food, but it looked as though it had been there for a while longer than it needed to. There was a bottle of mustard in the back, a bowl of what she assumed was spaghetti, a two liter of Mountain Dew, and a couple of bottles of alcohol.

"I don't eat here normally," AJ shrugs, pulling the two liter out and taking a long drink from it to help wake her up. "Normally I'll order pizza or Chinese, the delivery boys are surprisingly fast. Hard to know why, I'm always dressed when I answer the door." Lara shakes her head in amusement, working on putting small braids in her hair. AJ shrugs again, sitting down beside her friend and propping her feet up on the kitchen table.

"Now, if I would have done that you'd break my ankle," Terry points out.

"Did you pay for this table?" He shakes his head. "I'll tell you what then, when you buy me a table as nice as this one I'll let you put your feet up on it."

"I bought you those heels you were wearing yesterday, what'd I get for those?"

"I didn't castrate you in your sleep, isn't that enough?" Lara raises a brow at the exchange. Clearly there was some story there and it had to be interesting to get Terry to buy shoes that cost around the price of a new pistol. AJ notices the curious look and explains. "I came home expecting to find him sick in bed, and he _was _in bed, but he wasn't alone and he definitely wasn't sick. He was pile driving a girl that couldn't be any older than twenty and, well, they were both sorry afterwards."

"Yeah, Blondie was thrown through a window and lucky to survive while I lost four hundred bucks on a pair of shoes she only wore twice."

"Thrice, darling, I wore them yesterday."

"Speaking of yesterday, why the hell were you walking around naked?" AJ gives a dramatic sigh, throwing her head back.

"What's the point of owning a house if I can't walk around naked every now and then?" Terry had to give it to her, she had a point. "Now, if you're both quite finished I believe you came here for a lift." She stands, walking over to a door that leads to a patio and beyond that there is a trail leading to a huge red barn. "Come along, children, I have a new toy I think you'll both find to your liking." She laughs, taking the lead. The barn is as large as it first appeared, the floor scattered with hay and papers. In the middle is a silver pod that Terry and Lara would need to get into China.

"This is what you meant by a little faster," Terry questions.

"Oh yes, only the best for us," Lara smiles. "I do hope it'll sit three people." AJ stares at her for a moment, her eyes narrowed in realization. "Don't argue, it's for your own protection. MI6 wants you to tag along before Reiss can send men to your house and have you killed." _Is dealing with Terry supposed to be the better alternative_, AJ wonders, looking her ex up and down. Terry shifts under her scrutiny, feeling uncomfortable. She notices that he is actually dressed now, wearing jeans, a grey T-shirt, a leather jacket and boots. Not bad if he was trying to bring the grunge look back. "If you survive, you'll get a new home and identity; more money for helping me." AJ groans, stomping over to a small desk and grabbing a gun holster that would go on her thigh, it held her favorite pistol of her entire collection, a small Walther P22. When that was strapped on, she grabs another holster, this one for the hunting knife her father gave her when she was twelve. It was large and sharp, and he knew from experience that it could slice a man open without a problem.

"Fine," she frowns, turning to face them and hooking the knife holster to her shorts," but I'm packing my shit first."

**~Ten Minutes Later...**

"Come on," Terry yells from the doorway of AJ's room," we should've been gone by now!" She throws him a glare over her shoulder, tossing another shirt into her suitcase before going back over to the closet for some more. "Jesus Christ, it's like she's packing to go on vacation or something."

"I heard that," she shouts, rolling her eyes. When she comes back out of the closet with an armful of shoes, Terry gives her a withering glare of his own, turning on his heel to go sit on the couch. "Don't act like you wouldn't try to take shit with you too. Greedy bastard," she grumbles under her breath, carefully arranging the shoes in the suitcase before snapping it shut. She would have to come back for the rest of her stuff later if her home was still standing. She frowns, shooting a look at Terry to make sure he wasn't paying attention before tiptoeing over to her dresser with a backpack in hand—inside she slips another pistol and some magazines, her gloves, and the wedding picture. Satisfied, she turns only to pause with a strange sight in front of her.

"Pals of yours?" Terry kneels in the middle of her room, fingers interlaced behind his head with a large man standing beside him, a pistol in hand. Beside him is a slighter man who is no less intimidating, especially with an AK-47 in his grasp. AJ flounders for a few seconds, holding the backpack tightly to her chest. "I thought you were through with all that dangerous shit."

"Well, you know how it is."

"Kneel," the slighter man demands, his Russian accent thick and easily recognizable. Guns for hire by the looks of them, fancy ones too. They are both clothed in black suits, the kind of name brand that you only see in high-cost gangster movies. These are the types of guys that feed other guys to the fishes, but lucky for Terry and AJ, the men hadn't found Lara yet and AJ doesn't have any fishes to feed. The slight man moves quickly, striking out with the butt of the rifle and forcing her onto her knees across from Terry. Hazel meets dark green, the pair communicating the way they did when they still worked together. Terry's eyes cut to the man behind her quickly, meeting hers again a split second later. She gives him a slight nod, shifting almost imperceptibly as he did the same. "Mister Reiss sends his regards."

"What is this," AJ asks with a laugh," Game of Thrones? I hate to break it to you, Comrade, but that only works in fiction." The Russian strikes again with the rifle, sending AJ to the ground and starting a chain reaction. She had her foot coming up before she hit the ground, kicking the side of his leg with all the force she could at the awkward angle. Terry brings his head back sharply so the bigger man couldn't react, the man collapsing in pain and clutching at his groin. Moving quickly, Terry helps AJ up and pulls her .22 out of its holster, sending bullet flying into chests of both men before practically dragging AJ downstairs. "Where's Lara when you need her?!"

They had just reached the parlor when the Russians ran in after them, guns firing and forcing them into a side closet. "Each AK-47 has thirty rounds."

"And that .357 the big guy's firing only has six." AJ and Terry stay pressed against the wall beside the door, the bullets doing less damage there than in other places. "You think I pissed that one guy off when I called him Comrade?" Terry chuckles breathlessly, leaning his head against the wall.

"Little bit." When the firing finally stops, Terry kicks the door open and dives against the big guy, both of them falling to the ground in a struggle. AJ waits for the little one to enter the closet, grabbing the AK out of his hands and using it as a bat to hit him in the face with it.

"Doesn't feel too good, does it, bitch?" She brings it down again, this time connecting with his throat. Spitting blood out of her mouth, she tosses the gun to the ground and slings her pack over her shoulder, withdrawing her knife from its sheath on her hip. "Keep him steady." Terry does just that, sitting on the big guy's chest and pinning his arms to the ground above his head. "You see this knife? My daddy taught me how to use it when I was twelve years old and brought down my first Buck, he was a loving man and one of the best spies of his generation. He taught me a trick or two, you wanna see?" The big glares at her, shouting something in Russian that she assumed was something along the lines of _go fuck yourself_. "Don't be like that, big man, it's not attractive." He opens his mouth, but the only thing that comes out is some blood because at that exact moment she'd rammed her knife in his throat.

Lara walks in moments later, raising an eyebrow at the messy scene. "Where the hell were you?"

"I was getting everything ready, a plane should be here soon to pick us up. Did I miss something?"

"Fucking Russians," is all AJ says, wiping her knife off on the big guy's shirt before returning it and her pistol to their respective places.


	3. Reiss

Reiss frowns down at the Russian standing in front of him, wondering just how stupid you have to be to screw up a simple killing. Not only had AJ survived, she has been helped by a man that clearly knew what he was doing. The description that Mikhail provided was enough to confirm that the man was none other than Terry Sheridan, former lover of Croft, ex-husband of AJ, and one hell of a fighter. That was the last thing he needed to worry about, Croft alone is dangerous, but with AJ and Sheridan thrown into the bunch it would be damn near impossible to find Pandora's Box. "And you're sure this is the man you saw with her," he asks again, showing Mikhail the mug shot.

"Yes," the small man confirms," he held down Roman while she drove a knife through his neck." Mikhail is shaking, but Reiss was finding it hard to tell if it was from fear of what Reiss might do to him for failing or anger that his brother had been murdered right in front of him. "Please, Mister Reiss, let me go after the bitch again. I won't fail this time!" Reiss scoffs, turning his back to the man with a shake of his head. Reiss wasn't the type to offer second chances and he had plenty of men to send after AJ that wouldn't screw it all up.

"Don't make a mess on my plane." The Russian's screaming is cut off quickly, no doubt disturbing some of his buyers, but it wouldn't matter in a few days' time. AJ had wormed her way into one of his men's beds and they had revealed sensitive information that she shouldn't have. The matter is simple, kill the woman or bring her in for a bit of good old fashioned torture to see what she knew. Either way would be unpleasant for AJ, but he was looking forward to it. She may be completely useless in some regards, but she was excellent in bed. Maybe he'll break her and turn her into a servant once he'd killed off most of the Earth's population, her ex-husband included. "Sebastian, bring her to me." The younger man nods, flashing him a grin. He would have to call Chen Lo in case Croft got to him first and inform him to detain AJ.

* * *

Terry scowls when he's elbowed again by the American woman sitting next to him, the pod so small that the three people barely fit inside—with him in the middle it was nearly impossible to dodge every single nudge and poke from the two women. He swore AJ was doing it on purpose, but every time he turned to glare at her she put on an innocent look, her hazel eyes going wide. It didn't help that Lara clearly liked his ex-wife more than she did him, which made him wonder if there was something more there that he had missed. Nah, AJ wasn't into girls and Lara didn't seem like the type to like them either. What a shame, it'd certainly be an unforgettable experience to have them both at the same time. Before they'd left AJ's home, the redhead had insisted on changing into a pair of jeans and grabbing a few other belongings that fit neatly inside the small, black backpack sitting in her lap. "Do you not know how to work your own pod," Terry asks, looking over at AJ.

"I got a nerd as my secret Santa and he gave me the pod," she smiles, hazel eyes twinkling in excitement. The fight back at her house had been just the spur she needed to get her adrenaline going. Terry wasn't sure what he liked about AJ more, the fact that she was great in bed or the fact that near death situations made her glow. Hell, she is his kind of woman. "Why did MI6 want me to tag along?"

"Terry has been named your bodyguard," Lara answers," if you die before the mission is completed he goes back to prison." He jerks his head to the side to look at Croft, the look on his face one of shocked rage. "Think of it as an incentive to keep your ex-wife alive." He scoffs, shaking his head as the two women chuckle. What man in his right mind would want to be stuck with his ex-wife, one that purposefully sent him to prison? Nothing about this arrangement made him happy; there was little chance of getting laid, there was little chance of AJ not nagging at him, and there was an even slimmer chance of getting out of this alive. Why the hell did he agree to this in the first place? Oh yeah, before AJ came into the picture he'd thought he could break Croft down enough to get her to sleep with him. Sure, last night with AJ had taken the edge off, but he was still a man sandwiched between two beautiful women and he couldn't have either one of them. To cut straight to the point, it sucked.

Lara reaches up to pull on a lever, releasing the pod from the plane that has been carrying it. The drop is rapid and he can feel AJ grabbing his arm, her eyes staring dead ahead at the ground rising up to meet them. It was only out of instinct that she had grabbed him, at least that's what he told himself. "Well," he concedes," it's a little faster, but the Chinese will track the pod."

"There won't be any pod to find."

"Will there be any of us to find?"

"Maybe little chunks of brain matter," AJ replies, tightening her grip as the pod hits the water and bounces up again. Her nails bite into his arm, the silver paint on them making the dark green snake designs stand out all the more; still a Harry Potter fan.

"Ready," Croft asks a mountain comes into their view. "Now."

"Ready for what?" And then they were all flying out of the pod seconds before it crashed into the mountainside and broke into little pieces. "This is total bullshit," AJ shouts, puling the cord so that her parachute would open and allow her to land relatively safe on the ground. Terry watches as AJ's complexion turns a sickly green, quickly jumping out of the way when she fell on her hands and knees and began dry heaving. Terry smirks down at her until he catches sight of Croft's glare, then he kneels beside his ex and helps her stand. "I'm so glad I didn't eat this morning." The groan sounded pitiful even to his ears and he pats her back in sympathy.

"I'll get you some water when we reach our destination." She gives Croft a dubious look, one hand on her stomach and the other clutching the strap of her backpack tightly. "Don't worry, it shouldn't be too far." And then they were walking again, and Terry still wasn't sure how close he wanted to get to the sick woman next to him. She is still a pale green, but her normal color is beginning to come back. The land around them resembled a type of swamp, the ground under their feet soggy and sucking his boots.

"The ditching was good, Croft," Terry admitted," I'll give you that. But we're never going to find a vehicle in a place like this." _A place like this_ being the small farm that they were approaching, a small, old Asian woman running towards them. He raises an eyebrow when Croft runs to embrace the smaller woman with a polite greeting in Chinese. Obviously they were good friends, but he isn't about to give a shit. AJ plops down on the ground beside him, leaning her head against his leg and closing her eyes. "I liked your hair better when it was longer." He brushes his fingers over the dark red strands, very nearly the color of blood.

"That's why I cut it," she grumbles, slapping his hand away. "Pre-school rules, dude; hands to yourself and if you bite me I'll kick you in the face." She glares up at him. "And you know my leg can reach that high."

"Yeah, but the last time I had the pleasure of your foot by my face I believe we were doing something very enjoyable." She snorts at his response, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. The short woman walks over to them with a kind smile, noting the familiarity the pair shared.

"I have clean clothes," she tells them," you need to change before you leave."

"Yes, ma'am." He unzips the front of the skydiving suit, the top half of the material hanging from around his waist. "Hear that, AJ, you get new clothes."

"It won't be designer," she grumbles, standing up and removing her top. Terry smiles, admiring her breasts and body appreciatively until the other woman comes over to them again with fresh clothing. AJ thanks her, pulling on a tight grey shirt, some jeans, and a light jacket. Terry changes as well, the fresh T-shirt feeling soft against his skin. "Thank you for the clothes." The woman nods, handing AJ a bottle of water once she finished dressing.

"It's unlike Lara to take a partner," she informs them suddenly, her head tilted to the side in curiosity. "Where are you three going?"

"Taking a nice little trip," Terry replies," breathe some fresh mountain air, and stop by my friends at the Shay-Ling." It was obvious that the woman has head of the Shay-Ling by the look she sends in Croft's direction. "All part of the lovely site-seeing adventure, maybe we'll have Sushi for lunch once we're finished." AJ gives him a look, strapping the holster back on her leg and the knife to her belt loop—easy access for both of them should she have reason to use them. Croft walks over to them again, sporting fresh weapons and a happy smile for the woman.

"Show me the bikes," she suggests in order to change the subject. The woman gives her a hard look, but complies all the same, leading the group over to two covered dirt bikes that worked well in this terrain.

"I don't get one," AJ asks, her lower lip sticking out in a mock pout.

"God no, you can't even drive a car safely. You'll be riding with Terry." With a huff, AJ shoulders her backpack again, kicking at the dirt like a spoiled child that wasn't getting its way. Terry climbs on his bike, helping AJ get on behind him and tensing slightly when she wraps her arms around his waist. How the hell was it possible that she still smelled like a mixture of brown sugar and vanilla? The scent of her body wash clung to her and practically made his mouth water.

"The Shay-Ling watch all the roads," he says, shaking his head slightly," we'll have to go around the back."

"We'll go straight."

"Maybe you didn't hear me, the Shay-Ling have men on every road from here to—"

"I think that's the point," AJ interrupts, whispering the words in his ear and smiling when he shivers. "Now, shut up and do your job, Sheridan." Terry looks at her over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow until she leans back a little to give him some of his personal bubble back. She grins at him, eyes hidden behind a pair of designer sunglasses that she pulled out of her bag. With one final glance behind her, Croft starts the bike and takes off with Terry hot on her heels. She branches off once they reach part of the Great Wall, deciding to ride on that while Terry and AJ stuck to the actual road. He can feel AJ's grip on his waist tighten and realizes why a split second later when Croft lands on the ground in front of him, still on her bike and giving him a challenging smirk.

"A bit rusty, are we," she asks when he catches up with her, her tone teasing and light.

"Oh, I think it's coming back."

"I expected more from a Scot."

"I don't expect anything from an Englishwoman."

She chuckles, never taking her eyes of the road, if it could actually be called a road. It's more like the back roads you'd see in Oklahoma, all dirt with no real signs up to tell you where the hell you are. He'd gotten lost on those roads before and it took AJ half an hour to find him because his surroundings looked like everywhere else in that backwoods town. "Good, 'cause you're not going to get anything." She speeds up again, taking the lead for a moment before Terry passes her, narrowly avoiding a collision. AJ squeals, tightening her hold even more. Somehow he knew that if he looked at her, her expression would be one of pure glee rather than anxiety. The side road they were going down had small hills on either side, Terry taking advantage of it and jumping from one to the other with AJ laughing each time they were in the air. Once his bike was in front of Croft's again, she pops a wheelie, the spinning tire directly behind AJ's head and making her hair fly in her face.

They stop a few yards later, turning the bikes off and leaning them on their kickstands in front of the natural rocky slope they would have to walk up. "Fun's over, the rest of the ways on foot. Best to reconsider on that 'no gun' rule."

"No." He takes off his sunglasses, tucking them into his pocket and watches as AJ does the same, her bag still on her shoulders. Croft and Terry carry their own bags, Terry's full of clothing and necessities and Croft's full of pretty new toys he was dying to try out. He shrugs, leading the way so Croft knew where to step and wouldn't fall on her ass. As much as he'd love to see the brunette fail at something, they didn't exactly have time to spare.

"Whatever, and don't be looking at my ass." There's no response to that like he though there would be, so he continues to talk, knowing the next conversation may make AJ angry. "So, where do I fit in?"

"What do you mean? You're the guide and AJ's bodyguard." Terry comes to a stop, forcing the women to do the same as he turns to face them.

"I mean, when you think back on the vast scheme of your hugely adventurous life, where do I fit in? Was I the love of your life, or just another bump in the road? Was I time well spent? Four months and six years, more good than bad?" He looks between the two women, noticing that AJ had the decency to look a little guilty while Croft looked as though he was wasting her precious time. He'll admit that this was wasting time, but he wants to get right down to it once and for all. "Come on, it had to be more than that, am I right?"

"You're right," Croft acknowledges softly and for a second he thought he'd won. "It was five months." They smile, and Croft lets out a little laugh.

"You're laughing at me?"

"No, no, I'm laughing at the fact AJ believed you were charming enough to marry."

"I think I was drugged the first five years," AJ smarts off with a grin of her own, pushing past Terry with Croft following behind her.

"I am charming," he replies, walking after them.


	4. Escaping the Shay-Ling

The text alert shocked AJ, who had completely forgotten that she'd grabbed her phone at the last minute, even more surprising was what the text message said. It's obviously from MI6 as they used her real name instead of the nickname everyone else that mattered knew her by. _Alexis James—room 106, Freemont Hotel. _"Who's that," Terry asks, trying to look over her shoulder at the text. She elbows him sharply, tucking the phone back into her bag's side pocket.

"MI6, they got me a motel room," she answers shortly, annoyed at being dragged into this mess. She should be home right about now, enjoying her brand new Jacuzzi and recording the newest episode of Halt and Catch Fire while sipping a glass of chilled white wine. Was it so much to ask that she be left out of MI6's ridiculous schemes so she can enjoy the little things in life before she's too old to enjoy them? She wonders if her poor shoes were doing better than she was at the moment, no doubt they were sitting in her closet wondering why she hadn't come in to organize them. Poor things. She wasted a good portion of her life working for these bastards and how do they repay her? By pairing her up with her ex-husband and practically forcing her into a dangerous man's bed in order to get his secrets.

That idea backfired, now Reiss wants her head served to him on a silver platter and there's not a damn thing she could do about it. "I don't think you know where you're going," Lara states, following Terry down the narrow, mountainside path.

"You're impossible," Terry chuckles," you know that?" Lara was tired, AJ can tell that by a single glance, and a tired Lara was even worse than a smug Terry.

"I think you pretended to know, so I would get you out."

"This isn't a tomb, Croft, and the Shay-Ling aren't mummies." Lara pulls her pistol out, holding it behind her back so that Terry won't notice. AJ does notice however, and it puts her on edge. If Lara is willing to off guy she had sex with for five months, then what the hell would she do to the woman she's only known on and off again for three? "They're killers, but if you don't trust me…." He trails off, turning to look at Lara and finding her the barrel of her pistol in his face.

"I'm sorry to have to do this, but you're wasting my time."

"You want to shoot me? Shoot me." He looks smug now, like he knows something none of the rest of us do and AJ doesn't like it one little bit. "Personally I'd rather you do it….Than them." He nods to the bushes behind him just as several Asian men appear with rifles cocked and ready to shoot. One of the men steps forward, kicking the backs of AJ's legs before she could react and forces her to the ground. The same happens to Lara and Terry, the latter still smug though wincing a little from a particularly hard blow. The same man that kicked AJ forces her onto her back, binding her hands in front of her with coarse rope as two men approach the group in a jeep.

"Well, Terry," The guy in charge smirks," what part of _never come back again_…." He kicks Terry hard in the side, making the other man yelp. "Didn't you understand?" Terry looks over at AJ and Lara, both women sending daggers in his direction.

"You wanted to find the Shay-Ling." What a bastard. Terry, Lara, and AJ are hauled to their feet and pushed over to the jeep. "The only way to get into their place is as their prisoners."

"Ah," Lara nods," you might have told me that little gem before." The man holding onto the back of AJ's jacket pushes her roughly into the back of the jeep, lifting her by her jacket and the back of her pants.

"Put me down," she snarls, kicking at him and only succeeding in being dropped into the jeep. She hisses as she lands on her stomach, her arms underneath her protesting at the sudden weight.

"Easy," the man from earlier growls," Chen Lo said not to injure the woman."

"Never said which woman," the man that dropped her grumbles, but it was loud enough that his boss heard and resulted in him being shot right between his eyes.

"Miss James, I apologize for the rough treatment."

"How do you know me by name," she asks curiously. Had Reiss contacted him or was he undercover for MI6? Most likely it is the former, MI6's range isn't as impressive as it used to be. The man just smirks, turning back in his seat and facing forward. "Such a dick," she grumbles, shifting onto her back.

* * *

The Shay-Ling's headquarters is impressive, AJ would give that to them. It wasn't a building like she had been expecting, but rooms carved into an impressive mountainside, men running around with various objects and reminding AJ of a busy ant hill. The jeep they're in comes to a stop and the head guy pulls her out, holding onto a fistful of AJ's jacket, forcing her to walk with him. His long strides were hard to keep up with, but she managed well enough. The thing she dreaded the most was climbing up the slope until she notices that there are stairs carved into it—they're smooth and slippery, but much easier than having to climb with her hands tied together.

At the very top of the mountain is a room about the size of her living room back in Oklahoma, filled with all manner of ancient and expensive objects. "Were you really gonna kill me," Terry asks Lara in slight disbelief, not noticing the man in a tacky shirt walking over to them. There was no doubt in AJ's mind that he is Chen Lo, only villains and tourists can have such poor taste in clothing and since he was with the Shay-Ling she was confident enough to rule out the tourist prospect.

"Oh," he smiles," I bet she would have." Terry and Lara turn to face him, Lara sizing him up. "I've seen her in action. Didn't Terry tell you—the last time any of us saw him, he was riding away with a truck full of my Ming vases." The man is short, around AJ's height, with dark hair cut close to his head and eyes to match; not very impressive looking, but AJ would bet her life that he was more capable than he looked when it came to fighting. If he wasn't, Reiss wouldn't be using him. "And sitting next to him…" He pauses long enough to point to the biggest Asian man AJ has ever seen. "Was his sister."

"Wait a second," AJ says, her eyebrows scrunching together," you said you got me that vase when you went on a business trip!" Terry shrugs helplessly, yelping when AJ uses both her hands to deliver a sharp smack to his shoulder. "Stupid bastard, you don't bring stolen shit into my house and not expect to get hit!"

"You shouldn't have come here," Chen Lo tells Terry pointedly.

"It got me out of prison," Terry replies. "Besides, the lady has a good offer." He pauses a second to glare at AJ. "Well, the lady that doesn't want to smash something over my head does. Better than Reiss."

"Really, should I take it?"

"Take it, or better yet, you and I ransom her and the thing back to the British for triple—throw in AJ as a goodwill gesture." AJ clenches her jaw, sending Terry a look that meant he was gonna get it if they survived this.

"Let's talk." Terry makes to follow him, but Chen Lo stops him. "Not you, Terry, Lady Croft and I. You wait here, catch up."

"I'll be four minutes," Lara informs us, following after Chen Lo. The big guy walks over to Terry, looking impassive as though he got no pleasure from what he was about to do. AJ nods with a smirk, she couldn't wait to see Terry getting the shit beat out of him. He deserved it for giving her a vase that could have gotten her shanked in a back alley by an Asian named Bubba. Looking around as the beating starts, she finds a wooden crate to sit on that would give her a good angle to watch the fight from. The men working around them seem to have the same idea, sneaking glances every now and then while boxing up valuables.

**Seb**

While AJ's attention was focused on the two men fighting, one man's attention was focused on her. He was attractive with olive-toned skin and dark hair that he kept stylishly messy. He took pride in his appearance, dressed in nice jeans, a white T-shirt, and a black leather jacket; on his feet is a pair a motorcycle boots that he bought only two days ago, barely a scratch on them.

His name is Sebastian Chase, a popular assassin in the underworld, an even better kidnapper. He's the best in the business, which is why Reiss chose him to bring AJ back, though dead or alive was an option. She wasn't as pretty as that Croft lady, but she wasn't ugly either—staying perfectly in the middle where a guy wouldn't mind having sex with her, but she wouldn't be at the top of his list. Granted, his list wasn't very long—maybe five names in total and all of them knew him by a different name. Moving forward silently, he surprises the woman when he places a hand on her back, feeling her tense and then relax beneath his touch. "You must be AJ," he smiles, his Spanish accent faint and believable.

"Depends," the woman responds, her own country accent the real deal and hard to cover up. There was no doubt that she came from the South, no matter how hard she tried to disguise it. "Who are you?" Her eyes hold a curious light, hazel clashing with gold. Sebastian smirks, looking her over with his eyes resting on her breasts a moment longer than necessary. They weren't large, just barely handfuls, but they were firm and he bet they would feel great in his hands.

"Interested." Her attention is drawn away from him when her ex-husband is thrown across the room and lands at her feet.

"Has it been four minutes yet," he asks breathlessly. AJ shakes her head with a smirk, turning away from Sheridan and placing a kiss on Sebastian's lips. Seb knew it was to see how Sheridan would react and decided to take it a step further by pulling AJ forward by her hips and deepening the kiss. She moans, responding hungrily as she fights for dominance. She's a good kisser, Sebastian acknowledges vaguely, feeling her legs wrapping around his waist and pulling him closer to her. Her body felt nice against his and he finds himself giving in a little, holding onto her hips tighter than before, ensuring there would be bruises there later. When she pulls away for air he moves his lips down to her neck, nipping and sucking and licking just to hear what kind of noises she makes. He fails to notice her shifting beneath him until the last possible second when he's unable to dodge her knee as she rams it up against his crotch, sending him to the floor in agony.

**AJ**

AJ isn't the type to be manipulated if she doesn't want to be, and she'll be damned if some shit head was going to be changing that any time soon. His Spanish accent was obviously forced, as though he hadn't used it since high school Spanish class, and his breath smelled like onions. "Now," Lara shouts and Terry begins to fight back just as the man AJ sent to the floor pulls himself up with a scowl. She smiles at him sweetly, hopping up with her feet shoulder length apart and slightly bent. If he thought he was good, then he obviously didn't know how good she was.

"Little bitch," he growls, matching her stance. AJ lunges forward without warning, managing to get in a few punches before he sent her stumbling back with a punch of his own. He may be stronger than her, but the bigger you are the harder you fall. She drops down, sweeping his feet out from underneath him and sending him falling on his ass. She moves quickly, straddling his chest with her hands wrapped around his throat, beginning to choke him. He growls again, grabbing both of her wrists in one hand and flipping them over so that he was on top. She struggles to flip them again, but with her air cut off she wasn't able to do much. Suddenly the man is thrown off of her and Terry is cutting his throat wide open with her hunting knife that he had lifted back from one of the other men.

"That's for touching my wife," he yells at the corpse, helping AJ up. She coughs a couple of times, rubbing her throat.

"Remember that 'no gun' rule," Lara questions as she runs over to them. "I reconsidered." She tosses Terry a pistol while running. Men come running after her, shooting their own guns as AJ and Terry begin to sprint. AJ doesn't get the chance to remember her fear of heights when Terry tells her to piggyback. She jumps onto his back, hanging on tightly as he and Lara jump off the edge of the room and grab onto separate ropes, sliding down them upside down and shooting up at the men shooting at them. At the bottom of the rope they both flip so that they're standing again, AJ not getting the chance to hop down before Terry's sprinting towards the jeep, content to let Lara drive.

"You know, there's a staircase we could've used," Terry points out, settling AJ in his lap.


	5. Captured

Terry has never seen this side of AJ, but damn did he like it! She was dancing on the stage of the hotel, moving in ways he had only dreamed of while singing a Christina Aguilera song that she learned a few months back. Apparently what MI6 left out of their text was the fact that they arranged for her to be the entertainment at the hotel in exchange for one of their best rooms, she is meant to look out for Reiss' men. "_A little bit of naughty, it's a little bit nice. She's a whole lot of glam, sweat, sugar, sex spice; shimmy, shimmy, strut, strut. Give a little what, what—up on the table we'll be dancing all night!_" She jumps off the low stage, forcing a man in his mid-twenties to dance with her, back to chest.

The man grins as though it was the best day of his life, hands lightly touching her hips as they danced. It certainly isn't a show for children—the outfit she's wearing barely leaving anything to the imagination; a black leather top that resembles a cross between a one piece and a corset as it pushed her breasts up, black stockings, and black knee-high boots that looked deadly on her. She pushes the guy away playfully, making her way over to Terry with a devious smirk. He chuckles, eyeing her with interest. She pulls him up by his jacket, continuing to sing and grind against him in a way that made him hard instantly. During a short instrumental break in the song she leans back to whisper in his ear. "The guy I just danced with isn't happy to see me." He follows her gaze, noticing a bulge in the guy's pocket and getting her meaning that second. A pistol, not a very big one judging by the size of the bulge, but enough to do some damage to anyone unlucky enough to get in his way.

"Stay with me," he mumbles to her. She grins impishly, turning to face him and winking before continuing with the song, pushing him back down in the seat and crawling onto his lap. He groans, his hands going to her thighs without his consent. Her smile widens, eyes bright with happiness. The feeling of her moving against him reminded him of just two days prior when he'd fucked her in her bathroom. "If you don't stop that grinding…" He trails off, unable to finish his threat when she drags her nails down his clothed chest. "Jesus," he hisses, the painful pleasure shooting through his body and straight to his cock. She knew exactly what buttons to push and enjoyed testing the waters to see what might cause him to snap. She didn't get to test too much longer as gunfire rings out in the hotel restaurant, Terry instantly diving forward and shoving AJ beneath the table. She didn't object, just curled up into a ball and made herself a smaller target as he'd told her to do in case this situation happened. "Got your knife?"

"Does it look like I have my fucking knife," she shouts, gesturing to her outfit. He rolls his eyes, tossing her his Butterfly knife before jumping into the fray to take the idiot down before he killed everyone in the room. The twenty-something smiled as Terry ran towards him, raising his revolver and squeezing the trigger only to be tackled to the ground because he was out of ammo. Terry raises him into a sitting position by the front of his shirt, using his free hand to punch him repeatedly.

"I'm sick and tired of all you morons thinking you can kill AJ," Terry yells, each word punctuated by his fist smashing against the other man's face. "She's not that great at her job, trust me, I lived with her for six years!" Terry didn't stop until he felt someone pulling at him, spinning and pinning the person underneath him and ready to punch until he realized that the person was AJ. "I told you to stay under the table!" She raises an eyebrow at him and he wasn't sure why until he remembered that they were on the ground with him on top of her. "Sorry." He stands, offering her a hand up.

"It's fine, but we need the guy alive in order to interrogate him." She looks down at the man, his face a bleeding mess and a few of his teeth missing. Terry shrugs, looking at his fist to try a gauge how badly it would hurt later when the adrenaline leaves his system. The beaten guy, barely conscious, begins to laugh suddenly; spitting out blood as he watches Terry and AJ. "What the hell's so funny?" He continues to laugh, raising one shaking hand to point behind them. AJ didn't get the chance to turn around when another man wraps a burly arm around her throat, yanking her against him with a pistol held against her temple. Terry grinds his teeth together, knowing that a wrong move could mean getting AJ's brain splattered all over him—something he'd really like to avoid.

"You're a hard woman to find, James," the man holding her grins. AJ grimaces, looking as though she'd eaten something terrible. Another man appears behind Terry and puts him in a similar position as AJ, the only real difference being the assailant doesn't need a gun as he puts Terry in a sleeper hold. He struggles, the world beginning to go dark as he turns his chin to the side slightly, allowing a bit more air into his lungs, but it wasn't enough and he soon found himself drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

AJ groans when she wakes up, her shoulders aching, her thoughts cloudy, and her mouth dry as though she'd been chewing on cotton balls. At first she didn't know what to expect when she opens her eyes and finds herself hanging in an office room, several men walking around her. The room is filled with high tech equipment and held a simple metal table that sat a few feet away, the syringe on it holding a cloudy purple liquid. Chemical X, Reiss' favorite homemade drug that worked kind of like Tetrodotoxin, though it has never been the cause of someone's death. She shudders, not wanting to be its first victim to die from it. She looks up, finding her hands cuffed together and hanging from a sturdy little hook that supported her weight well. That's when the worst thing possible happened, her nose began to itch and she couldn't do a damn thing about it. "Son of a bitch," she groans, her words slurred from the drowsiness that was still pulling at her. _Noses don't itch when you're sleeping_, she muses absently.

"Ah, you've finally woke up." AJ raises her head at Reiss' voice, the snooty English accent letting her know who had spoken before she looked at him. Her nose twitches slightly, the itch growing worse. "I hope you slept well because you're not going to anytime in the immediate future." That's comforting. "I take it that you killed Sebastian?"

"Which one was he," she asks, her voice soft from sleep. "I've almost lost count; there was those two Russians that ruined one of my walls because they didn't know how to shoot, there was the creepy Latino that was with the Shay-Ling, and then there was the guy at the hotel whose face now resembles hamburger meat." Reiss chuckles, nodding a little in acquiescence. "Really now, don't you know if you want the job done right you should waste the guy yourself? Or were you too worried that you would give in?" Her voice changes, sultry and low, just the way she knew he liked. "I know you want me, Mister Reiss...in your bed, riding you until you bed for release." The only outward sign that she was affecting him was the hitch in his breathing. "We can do it right here, you can bend me over the table, all you have to do is let me down. Have you ever been handcuffed, Mister Reiss, I bet you'd like it. I could even spank you."

"That's quite enough, AJ."

"Do you like my outfit?" Reiss raises an eyebrow, looking her up and down for the first time. "I like how the leather feels against my skin, it's smooth; do you want to feel?" She smiles coyly at the older man, raising one stocking-clad leg to rest her foot on his shoulder. Someone had taken the liberty of removing her shoes; shame, they made her feel tall. "I bet you'd enjoy the leather too, Mister Reiss...Will you touch me?" The next thing she knew her head was snapping to the side, stinging from where he'd just slapped her. She smiles all the same, her lower lip split and bleeding. "I always thought you'd like it rough." With controlled movements, Reiss moves over to the table, picking up the syringe and holding it in front of her face.

"I see from your fear that you know what this is." AJ's eyes widen a fraction, beginning to tremble. "This will paralyze you for an hour or so, but you'll feel everything. Depending on the dosage, if I give you too much you'll be paralyzed and feel as though your entire body is on fire. Do you want that, AJ?" She shakes her head rapidly back and forth, struggling against the cuffs. "No, of course you don't; you're young. Now, I need you to tell me everything that buffoon told you the night you seduced him."

"Nothing I didn't already know, mainly about the investors you met just the other day. He didn't know what you were proposing to them, but he did know that one wouldn't be walking off the plane; something about him being a rat and that rats don't last long." She shrugs, meeting Reiss' glare head on with one of her own. It was a look she used on Terry when they were married that got him off his ass to take the trash out. "It seems your man was suicidal, already had his note written for when you sent your assassins to deal with him. The news said he was found in his bathtub, overdosed on sleeping pills. Were you responsible for that or did he do himself in before you had the chance?" Reiss backhands her again, both of her cheeks a dark red.

"The media reports what we tell it to, AJ. For instance, they will say that you were found in an alley; raped and murdered by the very man who killed himself. Apparently he couldn't stand the guilt of his crime." AJ swallows hard around the lump building in her throat, her breathing picking up slightly. She knew when she joined MI6 that she would likely die young, she's lucky to have survived this long. At twenty-eight AJ had few real regrets, most of them revolving around Terry and not having any children. She knew when she joined that getting pregnant was out of the question, her tubes were tied and the only way she'd hold a baby in her arms is by adoption. So AJ was ready for death, part of her welcomed it, but she wanted it to be on her own terms. "Does that scare you, AJ, that I have more power than you ever will?"

"No, Mister Reiss, because I know that one day soon you will be killed—that much I am certain of. Nasty, little men such as yourself always get their comeuppance and yours is long overdue."


	6. The Fear of Falling

At this point in time AJ was in the perfect mindset to commit murder, her shoulders are aching, her nose was itchy still, and the worker bees swarming around her kept bumping her and making her swing on her hook. Everything is made worse by the cold of the room, it seeped into her bones and made her shiver—the aching increasing because of her tensing muscles. "Sean," she calls out towards the blond henchman who was sitting on the table and watching her," do me a favor and scratch my nose." He chuckles, staying right where he is, fiddling with the syringe. Another man enters the room, nodding at Sean and taking his place on the table while Sean leaves. "What about you, big guy, you wanna scratch my nose?"

"First of all, my name is Thomas Brecker," he says with a frown," second of all, Reiss has told us not to touch you, and thirdly, I don't like you."

"I'll scratch your nose if you scratch mine."

"Not a chance, Miss James." Well, it was worth a shot. AJ sighs, beginning to whistle a song off the Disney Robin Hood movie she's seen a thousand times. Brecker rolls his eyes, knowing that if he struck her Reiss would skin him alive and turn him into a pair of shoes. He holds a hand up to his ear, as though he could hear something before responding with a mumbled," Yes, sir." He hops off the table and walks over to her, lifting her up slightly to unhook the cuffs before carrying her into a separate room and unlocking the handcuffs so that she can move easier. "Change your clothes." This room is occupied only by a table much like the one in the other room; this table has her old clothes on it, signaling that the goon squad has been in her hotel room.

"You wanna turn around, Brecker?" He continues to watch her, leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed. "Okay, I'll turn around, but if you try to stab me, remember that I'm the perfect height to head-butt your throat. I've done it before on a different guy." Brecker smirks as AJ turns her back to him, unlacing the front of her outfit and removing it as quickly as she can. The clothes are nice, obviously the ones that MI6 set up for her to lounge in before she had to head out on the mission again. The top is dark green and made of silk with short sleeves and a deep V neck that showed some cleavage; the pants were simple, black dress slacks like you might wear to an office job, and the shoes are black and white converse. Once completely dressed, AJ turns to face Brecker, looking satisfied in her new clothing and considerably warmer. And then all hell broke loose—alarms sounded and the worker bees were quickly leaving the rooms. What the hell is going on?

Brecker's eyes widen and he grabs AJ by the arm and begins to drag her out until Sean steps in his way with his pistol out. "False alarm," he snarls," keep AJ out of the cross fire or Reiss will kill us all." False alarms could be triggered by a lot of things, but AJ would bet her life that this one was caused by Lara and Terry. There is no way that she's just gonna sit on the sidelines and wait for Terry like a damsel in distress. Brecker leads her back to the room she'd been hanging in, drawing his pistol and looking around for danger. What he didn't realize was that the real danger was behind him—while Becker's back is turned to her, she picks up the syringe.

"You really should have scratched my nose," she informs him seconds before she drives the needle into his neck and injects the Chemical X directly into his bloodstream. "It would've been less painful." Brecker drops to the ground, paralyzed as the neurotoxin works its way through his body. "I'm going to have to borrow your gun for a moment, sweetie." She smiles at him, taking his .9 Mil and walking out of the room as gunfire starts just down the hall and the lights go out, turning back on a few minutes later. _Maybe if I pretend that's not happening I can get out of here safely_, she thinks to herself. Out of nowhere a pair of hands wrap around her and pull her into the security room, a hand clamped over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

"It's me." The whispered words make her relax into Terry's arms, glad that something has finally gone right today. "Are you alright?"

"I've certainly been better, but I've been worse too, so I guess I can't complain." He nods, pushing her behind him as he looks through the glass doors for threats. "Hey, if you had me hanging in the air by a pair of handcuffs and my nose was really itchy, would you scratch it?"

"Of course I would, I'm not a monster." She nods, looking out the door and spotting Reiss heading their way; thinking quickly, she turns him around to face her and pushes him against the wall, kissing him. He groans, pulling her against him with his free hand and deepening the kiss, wanting to taste her. She moans, slowly backing away from him and licking her lips, trying her damnedest not to tackle him to the ground and rip his clothes off. "What..." Terry clears his throat. "What was that about?" AJ flounders for few seconds, shrugging a shoulder.

"I saw Reiss and didn't want my face blown off." AJ's breathing was barely more than a panicked gasping, her hands resting on her hip as she looks Terry over. "You wanna have sex later?"

"I thought you'd never ask." He smirks at me, moving to pin me against the wall this time. "Stay here, I have to go save Croft's ass and then we're running." AJ nods, taking his pistol from him while he readied a rifle. Covering her ears when he lies down to shoot, all she can think about is him shooting Reiss in the head and giving her some peace of mind. With Reiss out of the way, she could go back to Oklahoma and relax with pizza and a bottle of Scotch. Lara runs past, Terry shooting a glass wall for her to dive through before following after with AJ.

"We were in a mall the entire time," AJ asks incredulously. "That is so unfair, everyone knows that the coolest candy comes from China!"

"Focus!" She nods, biting her lips as they run past a candy store. Outside is crowded and it's fairly easy to get lost in the crowd, Terry keeping one armed wrapped around AJ's waist to keep her close and make sure that none of Reiss' men could snatch her without his notice. They followed Lara, walking a bit faster than the people around them towards in unfinished International Finance Center skyscraper; the construction would drown out any noise of gunfire that might occur. AJ looks casually over her shoulder, pretending to take in the sights while looking for Sean. If anyone was coming after them it would be him, and there he is, the blonde hair sticking out in the sea of dark brown and black with occasional blue or pink.

"We've got company." Their speed increases, entering the building and rushing over to the elevator that would take them to the top of the skyscraper. Just as it was beginning to go up, Sean and his goons walk around the corner, firing at us, but the bullets are deflected by the metal. "This is way more exciting than anything we've done in the past." The huge grin on her face was enough to make Terry and Lara smile at each other. AJ had been kept at low level stuff, infiltrating suspicious terrorist cells and the like. The elevator stops at the top and the trio run out.

"Bingo, get out of Hong Kong free card," Terry says with a grin of his own. They run over to what looks like three parachutes, AJ giving him a strange look as she unhooks the pack.

"Parachutes," Lara asks.

"Something a little faster."

"Flight suits," AJ laughs, pulling it on over her clothing while the other two do the same. "Remember the last time we used these?"

"How could I forget, it was one of the best nights of my life—we went and bought a dog." AJ laughs again, finishing zipping her suit completely and stepping up on the ledge. "Our rendezvous point is two and a half, maybe three miles."

"Do what now? Terry, these things can barely make it one mile," Lara points out, secretly thrilled at the danger that got her blood pumping.

"I am now. You go first." Lara raises an eyebrow at him.

"You go first." Lara and Terry look at each other, their eyes daring the other to make the jump.

"You pansies," AJ sorts, jumping with a shout. Her intense fear of heights made itself known in that moment and her joy turned to mind numbing fear. "This was a very bad idea!" _I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die and nobody will know what happened to me except a glorified grave robber and my idiot ex-husband! _Terry floats closer, pulling the cord to get her parachute out, so that she could land on the ship instead of the Kowloon Bay like she would have had he not. She breathes rapidly, close to hyperventilation when Terry catches her before she could drop to the ground. She clings tightly, burying her head in the crook of his neck and breathing in his familiar scent of leather, musk, and something that can only be described as man. "I need a joint."

She can feel his chuckle vibrate in his chest as he carries her to her room, laying her down on the lower part of the bunk bed. "I'll see what I can do." She nods, lying back and closing her eyes. "What's in this backpack of yours?" Her eyes snap open when she hears him unzipping it. He pulls out the phone, iPod, extra magazines for the pistol that he pulled out next, and then the wedding picture. He stares down at it with a shocked expression, clutching the silver frame tightly. "You kept it after all this time?"

"I tried to throw it away after the divorce was finalized, but...I just, I couldn't." Terry nods, pulling out and opening his wallet before handing it to her. She takes it with a frown, looking at the only picture inside; it was taken three years into their marriage by Terry's brother and showed just how happy they were back then. She was sitting in Terry's lap in front of their new house with their Pomsky, Bear, sitting beside them, his little head cocked to the side. He's the size of a Pomeranian with the looks of a Siberian husky and the pride of Terry and AJ.

"I miss those days."

"Me too."

**Later That Night...**

AJ stumbles down the hall, a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and her backpack in the other. She didn't know where she was going, just that if she stayed in her room much longer she would go insane; the walls felt like they were closing in, but she didn't want to go outside in fear of falling overboard. As she walks down the hall, she looks into different rooms and when she looks into Terry and Lara's room she finds a most interesting sight—Terry is handcuffed to the bed, dressed only in a pair of jeans with a scowl on his face. "You gonna stand there and laugh or are you gonna unlock me so we can go after Croft?" AJ stares at him for a few seconds more before bursting into a fit of laughter, doubling over with her hands on her knees.

This was just too good for her to pass up.


	7. The Box is Safe Epilogue

"Are you sure she went this way," AJ asks, laying in the bottom of the boat in only her bra and a pair of shorts. Her shirt was rolled up under her head, the green silk wrinkling. "I mean, she could have gone anywhere, why would she take a boat?"

"She's doing what I would've done," Terry answers, pulling up next to a boathouse. "Put your shirt on, these people might have kids." AJ groans, siting up and pulling her shirt on over her head, messing up her thick hair. "I like the disheveled look on you, AJ, makes it look like you just had sex." She flips him off, running her fingers through her hair to tame the wavy mass. "Why don't you just stay here, you can't speak Chinese anyway."

"You always bring that up when you feel unmanly, have you realized that?" Terry shakes his head at her, climbing onto the dock. AJ tilts her head to the side, observing the way his muscles flexed as he climbed up the ladder to the boathouse. She wanted nothing more than to be wrapped up in his arms again without a care in the world just like the old days, but there was no getting those back. Hell, AJ would be happy to just have sex a little more often, but no guy that she's slept with since Terry went to prison was good enough, they didn't know all the spots she liked to be touched the way Terry did. He knew them right off the bat, leaving her a quivering mess the first time they fucked at his little brother's wedding. She was posing as a wedding photographer and hell bent on killing the wedding decorator—technically Francois was a bomber that had just blown up a foreign dignitary and the wedding was used as his alibi. Terry had attended for almost the same reason, his job to take Francois in for question and as best man for his brother.

Francois got away that day while Terry and AJ were busy in the hotel's ballroom. She smiles at the memory, growing wet at the thought of him touching her again; she was addicted to what he could give her and now she was going through withdrawals. She's desperate at this point, looking around to make sure no one could see her in the bottom of the boat before bringing a hand up to her breasts. She moans, closing her eyes and pretending it was Terry's hand touching her, pinching her hard peaks. She imagined Terry between her legs, taking her in his mouth and putting his sinful tongue to good use. Her free hand drifted down her body towards her shorts, but just as she was about to unbutton them and firmer, rough hand stops her.

She sits up with a gasp, finding Terry hovering over her with a hungry look in his eyes. They've darkened to brown, making the gold flecks seem to glow. Hers widen, watching him closely to see what he would do. "Come with me," he demands, voice barely more than a whisper. AJ nods, taking Terry's proffered hand and following him off the boat to a car. "Get in the back." She hesitates this time, but one smoldering look from him has her climbing in quickly, eager to find out what he was going to do. He climbs in after her, shutting the door and pulling on her legs to make her lie down, unbuttoning her shorts and pulling them and her panties down; throwing them in the front seat.

"Terry," she gasps, looking at him through half-lidded eyes. He gestures at her shirt, beginning to undress himself while she did the same—pulling his pants down just enough for his hard member to spring free. Once her bra and shirt joined her other clothes, he bends down to kiss her, the roughness of it making her groan and arch under his expert touch. His large hands, rough and calloused, move over her body towards the hairless mound between her thighs. She grinds against his hand, feeling two of his fingers moving inside her while his thumb worked against the bundle of nerves. Her breathing quickens, a knot tightening in her stomach as his mouth joins the fray, the added sensation of his teeth nipping at her breasts making her fall over the edge and cry out in pleasure.

"Jesus," Terry hisses as he buries himself inside her to the hilt, her inner muscles tightening around him as another orgasm hits her. She's never felt anything like this before and she doubts she will again. His thrust are quick and hard, one of his hands tangled in her hair and the other one supporting him—her hands wrap around him, fingernails leaving crescent shaped marks in his back, the pain adding to his pleasure and making him speed up. She matches him thrust for thrust, practically screaming as he hit that sweet spot inside her that made everything golden around the edges. It doesn't take long for AJ to fall over the edge again into an even harder climax that left her hoarse, Terry following soon after with her name on his lips. "Best…Sex…Ever."

"Yeah," she breathes, maneuvering so that she could lay against him while they caught their breath. "So, where to next?"

"Uh, private airport, a buddy of mine owes me a favor. From there we'll got to Tanzania, the little girl I talked to said Croft was headed there to play with the elephants." She chuckles, draping her arm across his stomach and getting comfortable. "You know, as hot as it is, you don't have to touch yourself when I'm around, just ask and I'll do it for you."

"Is that a promise?" She looks up at him with a smile, moving to straddle him.

"God, yes," he moans, grasping her hips in his hands as she begins to move against him, growing hard again.

* * *

"Again with the possibly jumping to our deaths," AJ practically sobs, her arms around Terry's neck tightening enough to cut off his air supply. He grunts, loosening it enough for him to breathe, but not enough to make AJ feel like he was going to let her fall.

"We're not jumping right now, AJ, I'm going to land the damn pane until I find out where the he we're going next." She nods, not letting him go until it was time to get out and walk. Terry quickly walks over to her, supporting her with one hand wrapped around her waist. They walk over to a bickering Hillary and Bryce and the two soldiers pushing them along, AJ beginning to calm down now that they were no longer in the air. He nods to the one on her right and she nods back, following his example and breaking the man's neck. "I don't suppose either of you know how to fly a helicopter?" Bryce looks at AJ to see if Terry was being serious, but her look did little to comfort him.

"I can," he answers, shocking the shit out of everyone present.

"What," Terry asks, taking a rife off one of the soldier's dead bodies.

"I've got over one hundred and fifty hours between fight simulation games and models."

"And in the real thing?"

"Two."

"Seriously," AJ asks, looking at him in a new light," that's hot." Bryce smiles shyly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You should've told me sooner, I could have gotten you more than two hours." Terry raises both brows, looking between the two of them with interest.

"Just who are you and how do you know AJ," he questions, taking a step towards Bryce.

"U-um, I'm Bryce and...And AJ and I had a couple of one night stands," he stutters, taking a step back. "Who are you?"

"Terry Sheridan, her husband." AJ rolls her eyes, practically seeing the testosterone coming off Terry in waves. She puts a hand on his chest to keep him from punching Bryce in the face.

"Can we get going," she asks, glaring between the two men.

* * *

"I'm not jumping!" Terry grins, picking her up over his shoulder and sliding down a rope into the Cradle of Life, AJ screaming obscenities the entire way down. Inside the Cradle is all rock arches, thunder, and lightening—every small noise sounding amplified.

"Come on." AJ nods reluctantly, following closely behind Terry with a fistful of his jacket in hand so that he wouldn't be tempted to push her off the ledge they were walking along. "This is insane," he whispers as they walking on what appeared to be the ceiling of the place, AJ's hair hanging towards the ground. Slowly the move back to walk on the ground again, stopping in front of a pool of bubbling, black goo; a glowing box floated in the middle, about the size of a shoe box. The couple share a long, excited look, Terry using his rifle to move the box over to them.

"Acid?" The parts of the gun that had touched the ooze began to melt and bubble, yet the box remained perfectly intact. It was clear now that the glow was coming from inside the box, from whatever was in there that everyone was fighting over. She never wanted to touch something so badly in her life, but the sound of a body hitting the floor made her and Terry look around. Fighting on the ledge above us is Lara and Reiss, neither one seeming to keep the upper hand for long.

"I don't think so, Reiss," Terry calls, raising his pistol. He didn't get the chance to fire because Lara and Reiss both come plummeting over the ledge, Lara grabbing a hold of some rock and hanging midair and Reiss continuing to fall into the acid. AJ winces, unable to imagine the excruciating pain Reiss must be feeling as he comes to the surface, the acid meting his skin and clothing. Feeling merciful, AJ takes the pistol and ends the screaming by shooting Reiss between his eyes, the skeleton falling back without a word, sinking into the ooze. Lara allows herself to slide the rest of the way down, landing safely on the ground with a pained grunt. Terry walks over to her while AJ sinks to the ground beside the Box.

The urge to open it comes back full force, her fingers twitching as she lays a hand on the lid. Would it be worth all the death that would come for just a little peek inside? "What are you doing," Lara demands, snapping AJ out of her daze and it's only then she realizes that the lid was cracked open, golden light pouring out. It's so beautiful, all she wants is to just open it a little bit more, just a little bit is that so bad?

"We're taking it with us," Terry informs her, walking over and grabbing AJ's backpack, ready to slide the Box inside.

"You're not walking out of here with that Box." He drops the bag, standing to face Lara again.

"You mean just leave it here? It could be worth a fortune."

"Put it back." AJ ignores them both, licking her lips in anticipation. She wants it so badly that she ached, if she didn't open it completely the ache would kill her. "It will kill millions of innocent people!" _It will kill millions of innocent people...Kill...Innocent_. The words echo in her head, bringing her back to her senses enough that she can recognize the ache was coming from having the Box open. With Terry and Lara distracted in an argument, AJ slides the lid closed and picks it up, scooting over to the very edge of the pool. Being careful not to get burned, she sets the box into the acid and watches as the acid consumes it, the glow finally vanishing and the high-pitched music cutting off. Terry notices immediately and turns to face me, blinking away the greedy light in his eyes.

"It's done," AJ whispers in a broken voice," the world will be safe until you idiots stumble upon another piece of ancient history." She picks up her bag, letting Terry and Lara help her out of the Cradle and back up to the real world. The mountain tribe waiting for us to help us out. Who AJ assumes is the Chieftain steps forward and says something in Swahili.

"The box is safe now," Kosa translates.

"You okay," Terry asks, looking down at AJ.

"Oh yeah, I'm good," she lies with a smile.

"That's not your _I'm good _face, that's you _I have to pee, my bladder's about to explode _face." She grimaces, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet with her legs squeezed together. "Come on, I'll stand guard while you pee. We've done it before, this time won't be any different."

**Two Years Later...**

Terry smiles down at his wife, watching as she holds their new son in her arms. The adoption had gone successfully thanks to their identities and a little nudge from MI6 and now they had a little boy to call their own—six months old, curling red hair and pale green eyes that were full of curiosity. _He's perfect_, Terry thinks to himself, smiling at the infant's babbles and cooing. "Yeah," AJ coos back," oh yeah, who's that? Is that Daddy?" The baby reaches out for him, so Terry quickly takes him from his wife, handing her the spatula to finish up their dinner.

They discovered a couple of weeks ago that baby Erik loved scrambled eggs and who were they to deny him? Erik giggles, grabbing Terry's nose and then his mouth. "Uh-huh," he nods, smiling as the baby continues to babble. "Oh, trust me, I know, you're mommy is just the worst person around!" AJ raises a brow at that, holding the spatula threateningly. "What was that? You think Aunt Lara should watch you tonight so Mommy and Daddy can have some privacy? That's the best plan I've heard all week."

"You're terrible, using our baby like that." AJ laughs, turning off the stove and dividing the eggs up on three plates. "But, I guess since Erik thinks it's a good idea, we can give it a try." Terry sets Erik in his high chair, strapping him in before attaching the tray and putting the little plate in front of his son. "Will Lara be here soon?"

"Any minute now." She smiles, pushing her food around on her plate as she watches Erik throw his food at Bear—who has recently returned from Terry's brother's house. The Pomsky eats the eggs quickly, his tail wagging as he watches the baby for more. An hour later finds AJ and Terry reclining in bed, neither one really listening to the music playing softly in the background. "We should send Erik to Lara's more often," Terry mumbles against her lips, laughing when she playfully smacks his chest. "I love you, Mrs. Sheridan."

"And I love you."


End file.
